Knesset speaker apologizes, says incident cannot be treated as isolated event. 'This is a micro cosmos of a national problem that could endanger Israeli democracy'

Omri Efraim|Published: 23.08.12 , 13:46

Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin
arrived at the Hadassah Ein Kerem
Medical Center on Thursday to visit the Arab teen who was injured in a near lynch
carried out by Jewish teens in Jerusalem's Zion Square last Thursday.

Rivlin apologized to the teen and told him that it was clear that his was not an isolated incident of racism towards Arabs; rather it is a worrying phenomenon in Israeli
society.

Up until now, we believed that this was an isolated case, marginal, but it isn't," Rivlin said. "This is a micro cosmos of a national problem that could endanger Israeli democracy."

Rivlin with the victim (Photo: Avi Hayon)

The teen is expected to be discharged from the hospital on Thursday. His doctors say he is in good condition and explained that the teen was beaten in the chest, which caused Arrhythmia. The doctors added that it was the only major blow he suffered from and it was what caused respiratory loss.

Rivlin explained that the purpose of his visit was to apologize for the events of last Thursday: "We are not just sorry, we are also angry. You are a son of Jerusalem, we are all citizens of Jerusalem, and we need to care for each other. It is hard to see you in hospital because of something so inconceivable.

"The time has come for us to stop covering up. It isn't possible that any man be abandoned, even if that person is someone I disagree with. This is a shared responsibility, of every leader and every publicly elected official."

Rivlin added that with the coming of the new school year, the education system needs tp put the issue at the front page of the school curriculum.